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The Love-Hate Relationship: Transforming the Customer Experience with IVR Best Practices

2CREATING VALUE THROUGH THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ©2012 TeleTech Holdings, Inc. - All rights reserved.

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Overview More and more now, you can use your voice to interact with computers. Today, you can dictate written

documents, turn spoken words into text messages and even use your voice to command your smartphone.

Despite these popular technological advances, consumer sentiment still remains overwhelmingly negative

towards Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems—those automated service systems that answer

the phone for many companies today. In fact, there is a general dissatisfaction and a largely negative

perception of IVR systems, especially when it comes to actual usability and getting things done.

Most callers get frustrated when the IVR system doesn’t have the right menu options, forces callers

to listen to marketing messages, or takes too long to navigate through the menus. As a result, they

quickly switch their goal from trying to get information from the system, to trying to reach a service

associate. This reaction typically forces the caller to wait longer on hold and pushes them over the

edge into the poor customer experience that we have all learned to tolerate.

An increasing number of customer service departments understand how frustrating this process can

be and are making improvements to deliver superior automated customer service experiences. Now, a

number of IVR systems use highly sophisticated voice recognition technology with impressive accuracy,

even in noisy environments or over a weak cellular connection. Many companies have improved their

call flow designs, offering self service first, and adding marketing only where appropriate. And, many

systems today provide the universal option to press zero and transfer to an associate at any time.

However, even with these recent improvements, customers still have a psychological barrier when it

comes to talking to a machine rather than a person. So, why do customers love to hate IVR systems?

In an attempt to help companies engineer superior IVR systems, eLoyalty decided to study this issue

and launch an in-depth survey to explore customers’ attitudes towards IVRs.

Studying Customer Sentiment

“We set out to do a deep-dive discovery into how people feel about IVRs and explore the good, the bad,

and the ugly,” said Vicki Broman, an IVR expert and manager of the Voice User Interface (VUI) team at



Why do customers love to hate Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems? In an attempt to help

companies engineer superior IVR systems, eLoyalty performed an in-depth exploration of customer

sentiment about IVRs. Not only did their study reveal what people love and what people hate, it

exposed the biggest determiner of the IVR customer experience and five other best practices that

every business should remember when evaluating and updating their automated service technology.

Customers have

a psychological

barrier when it

comes to talking

to computers.


The Love-Hate Relationship: Transforming the Customer Experience with IVR Best Practices White Paper

eLoyalty. “So, our research team, headed by Georgios Tserdanelis, PhD, compiled a list of questions to

determine not only what people dislike about these systems, but also what it is they really like about them,

as well.” With that, eLoyalty created an online survey to collect open form and multiple choice responses

from over 200 participants. This report summarizes what customers love and hate about IVRs and

includes advice from the experts on how to leverage this insight to design automated service interactions

that will make customers actually compliment the IVR. “Benchmarking is not enough, especially when it

just reiterates more of the same bad practices. It takes time, research, and the ability to step away from

what everyone else is doing in this environment to determine what changes would make people like the

IVR. After all, it’s all in how you ask the questions,” said Broman.

“The study showed a significant portion of participants reporting basic IVR interaction challenges that

can easily be overcome with the advanced IVR design principles, so this evidence should act as a call

to action for business leaders to evaluate their IVR system for outdated technologies and practices

that can amplify customer frustration,” said Broman.

• Audio prompting: Audio prompting presents menus in a linear fashion, but there is a maximum number of prompts that callers are willing to listen to before they hit a point of frustration and forget the options offered. This intrinsic limitation means menu options should be clear, concise, quick, and avoid unnecessary messages before the menu options. “Our rule of thumb is this: The time span between the start of the Welcome message and the end of the last main menu prompt should not exceed 30 seconds,” said Broman.

• Upfront messages: Lengthy upfront messages including marketing messages or website addresses cause callers to tune out and stop listening to the prompts. The best IVRs will

say only what the service associate would say when answering a call. These messages should be avoided: “Thank you for calling XYZ. Did you know you can get faster responses on our website? Please listen carefully to the following options.”

• Speech recognition: The quality of the system’s speech recognition depends on the type of Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) engine and the grammar development behind the speech engine. “Advanced ASR engines are available today with impressive recognition accuracies that can help customers quickly get the information they need. Some of the most advanced ASR engines offer support for accents and accommodate customizable commands,” Tserdanelis said.

Top Reasons Why Users Dislike Automated Systems Answering their Call

The Question:Please list the top three reasons you do not like Automated Systems answering your call when you contact a business.

Survey Sheds Light on IVR Problems and Best Practices

The issues revealed in this survey question can be directly linked to three common IVR offenders. Here are some ways to overcome them:

A significant number

of respondents

reported basic IVR

challenges that can

easily be overcome

with technology

upgrades and

advanced IVR

design principles.



In the previous question, 24 percent of participants complained about the time it takes to navigate

through an automated system, but here 19 percent of participants acknowledge that the automated

system saves time—proving their love-hate sentiment toward IVRs. So, why the contradiction?

Perhaps the famous fable of the blind men describing an elephant can help explain this phenomenon.

If you haven’t heard the story, blind men will describe an elephant differently depending on which part

of the animal they touch.

In his book, Bruce Balentine states, “Like the fable of the blind

men and the elephant, all of these viewpoints are right – they just

apply to different circumstances.”1 Thus, “this contradiction should

incite customer experience business leaders to ensure that their

IVR system is designed with the help of an experienced voice user

interface designer,” said Broman. These designers are the IVR experts

responsible for identifying the different customer circumstances and

mapping out the most efficient and customer-friendly processes

and options that the IVR system should offer in response to various

customer needs. “This job is not easy—especially when the

circumstances are dynamic in nature and can be affected by many

factors both human and non-human. Designing a superior customer

experience can be complex with successful customer interactions

often hinging on important decisions such as: how to ask questions, how many questions to ask,

and when to transfer calls to other systems. VUI designers are masters at making these decisions,

evaluating existing systems, and mapping out improvements that can be the difference between loyal

customers and lost customers,” she said.

Source: Drawing by Leslie Degler®

1 Bruce Balentine. “It’s Better to be a Good Machine than a Bad Person”. Illustrated by Leslie Degler. ICMI Press. 2007

Top Reasons Why Users Believe the Automated System is Helpful

The Question:Please list the top three reasons you believe the automated system is helpful.

VUI designers can

help companies

evaluate existing

IVR systems

and map out

improvements

to increase

customer loyalty.



Also interesting to note is that 16 percent of customers acknowledge the cost savings that IVRs deliver

to companies as a positive attribute of the system. This indicates an overall customer acceptance

and expectation to more frequently encounter IVRs and interact with non-human systems in today’s

cost-focused, global economy. “The key takeaway here is that while customers love to hate IVRs,

they understand why businesses use them,” said Broman. “So, it truly is their experience within the

IVR system that really turns customers off. Business leaders should continue to leverage IVRs for

the cost efficiencies but invest in upgrades that make them customer centric rather than business

centric. Plus, these investments both lower costs and increase customer satisfaction; it should never

be one or the other.”

An overwhelming 57 percent of customers prefer to use the touchtone keypad to enter their data,

rather than speaking it into the voice recognition system. Why? The survey’s open form responses

indicated that users are still apprehensive about speech recognition problems. After all, noted

Tserdanelis, “Today’s users include a wider diversity of speakers, some with foreign accents that can

lower the recognition rates of ASR systems. So, the best practice we can learn from this is that

IVR systems should offer callers the option to either speak or use the touchtone keypad to type

their response. The best IVR systems take into account the idiosyncrasies of different social and

demographic characteristics of the customer group whenever possible, as well as the particularities

and specifics of different industries and businesses.”

How Users Prefer to Interact with Automated Systems

The Question:Do you prefer talking to the system (speech input) or using the telephone keypad for input (touchtone input)?

IVR systems should

offer customers

the option to either

speak or use the

touchtone keypad

to type in their

information.



The results show that over 60 percent of respondents prefer to speak with an associate, mostly

because of considerations regarding efficiency, privacy, and speed of service. Thus, the option to

bypass the automated system in order to talk to a human should be considered the single most

important determiner of the IVR customer experience. Broman explained specifically why.

“Unlike web and mobile automated systems, the IVR is forced on the customer rather than chosen

by the customer. If a customer believes they need to speak to a human, the IVR functions as a non-

optional intermediary, causing a sharp negative reaction toward the system. Since most businesses

no longer have separate numbers to reach an associate directly, customers have no choice but to go

through an automated system first. Quite frankly, the mandatory nature of the IVR system aggravates

customers. When poor-quality IVR applications are forced onto customers, companies are putting

their customer relationship on the line. And, in our connected society—when competitors are just a

click away—these are the moments that can destroy customer loyalty,” said Broman.

Additional best practices for IVR system bypass features include:

• At no time should the caller be required to request an associate more than once

• Callers should never hear that the system can assist them after they have requested an associate

• Callers should have the option to return to the IVR if there is a long hold time

Users Just Want to Speak with an Associate

The Question:If provided with the navigation to get to a Customer Service Representative (CSR), would you always choose to be transferred?

The single

most important

determiner of

the IVR customer

experience is the

option to bypass the

system and speak

with an associate.



The survey findings indicate that a 10-minute wait time doesn’t automatically result in dissatisfied

customers. In fact, 46 percent of customers believed that a 10-minute wait in queue for an associate

was still considered good service, and 12 percent thought that it was excellent service. “The important

caveat to note is that the question states that the customers received the requested information,

which suggests that resolution is a bigger factor in satisfaction than the queue time. As long as

customers received the answers to their questions, 58 percent believed it was good to excellent

overall customer service,” said Broman. “We were surprised that customers would tolerate this long

wait time. It appears that customers are more and more willing to wait for service, which is a direct

reflection and result of the mediocre and poor-quality service experiences that are so common today.”

Conclusion

IVR systems are one type of service automation that customers love to hate, but the truth is—it’s

really a love-hate relationship. Based on eLoyalty’s findings, most customers dislike using IVRs, but

appreciate them when the application provides clear, concise, and quick access to the information

they need. The survey results highlight the following best practices for developing and delivering

superior IVR customer experiences:

1. Audio prompting, upfront messages, and speech recognition are three key areas that heavily

shape the customer experience. Use caution with these approaches and invest in sophisticated

technology to ensure success.

2. Allow the customer to use the channel of choice. IVR systems should be flexible and provide options

to either speak their responses to questions or use the touchtone keypad to type them. The best

IVR systems accommodate the idiosyncrasies of different social and demographic characteristics

of the customer group, industry, or business, and do not advertise self-service websites unless they

offer more information or help callers avoid long queue times.

How 10-Minute Waits Affect Customer Satisfaction

The Question:If you waited more than 10 minutes on hold for a customer service representative (CSR) and the representative answered all of your questions, how would you rate the overall customer service on a survey?

A 10-minute wait

time doesn’t

automatically result

in dissatisfied

customers.



3. Customers understand why businesses use IVRs, so leverage these technologies for cost efficiency.

But, don’t forget to invest in upgrades that enhance the quality of service interactions. These will pay off

in the end with increases in customer loyalty.

4. The option of bypassing the system and speaking with a human is the single most important

influencer of the IVR customer experience. Always provide the option to speak with an associate.

5. Although long wait times are never recommended, don’t sweat 10-minute holding times. While wait

times are important, call resolution is a bigger influencer of customer satisfaction.

The next big thing in IVR technology will be connecting IVR systems to customer management data,

so it can provide more intelligent service with background information such as customer calling history,

channel preference, and what the customer was doing when they requested service. For now, though,

transforming public opinion about IVRs will need to start with a simple customer-centric approach.

IVR systems still have a long way to go before they will be considered the popular customer asset that

many web or mobile applications are today; however, it is a realistic expectation when these systems

are designed with the customer in mind.

About eLoyalty

eLoyalty, a TeleTech company, provides customer technology solutions that simplify service and deliver

exceptional customer experiences at a lower cost. Using today’s most advanced cloud, on-premise,

and hybrid technologies, eLoyalty helps companies harness their existing technology investments

and integrate legacy systems into a central customer collaboration hub that enables seamless service

across all communication channels. Superior customer experiences start with an integrated approach,

and eLoyalty unites all the capabilities businesses need to engage customers and build loyalty with

every interaction. For more information, visit www.teletech.com/solutions/technology-innovation.

The best IVR

systems are

designed with

the customer

in mind.

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